


The Past is the Present

by Lord_Morzahn



Series: Fictober 2020 [13]
Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Multi, Trans Character, Transgender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:40:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28491792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lord_Morzahn/pseuds/Lord_Morzahn
Summary: The Detective carefully reminisces their teenage years with Nat. (Fictober 2020, Prompt 23)
Relationships: Detective/Natalie "Nat" Sewell
Series: Fictober 2020 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2081712
Kudos: 1





	The Past is the Present

"Do we have to?" I ask, sinking feeling in my guts. I'm glad my voice didn't bend into a whine.

Nat pauses, looking me over. "You were just talking the other day about wondering what your old classmates were up to. Now's your chance to find out."

"Yeah, but just because I wonder doesn't mean I have to _know_." I protest, frowning. "I didn't even think high school reunions were a real thing."

She's too good at reading me. Her hands slide around my waist and pull me close, my back against her chest as we stand in my apartment kitchen. The opened invitation sits on the counter.

"If you really don't want to go, no-one can make you. It's your life, darling." She says in my ear as I lean into her warm embrace. "But I think it would be fun. Good for you, even."

I let out a slow breath, trying to calm the anxiety that comes from thinking about high school- and seeing everyone from it again. Nat rests her chin on my shoulder as I gather my thoughts.

Wayhaven isn't a big place, so much so that there's only one physical school that covers K-12. My graduating class was pretty small, and most of the people moved far away from Wayhaven. Some stayed, of course, but thankfully only the ones I got along with. 

"I just... I'd like to go. I would. But..." I sigh. "It's complicated. And rough."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Nat asks. I sigh again and turn around in her embrace to bury my face in her shoulder.

"High school was...a mixed bag for me." I admit. "It was the first time I really had friends, but also...kids could be mean. I was dealing with a lot of mental issues. And I came out and started transitioning in my last year."

Her arms tighten around me, like she thinks she can protect me from the world as long as I'm in her embrace. "I'm sorry, my love."

"...it was a long time ago." I mutter into her shoulder.

"That doesn't mean it still doesn't hurt," she whispers. "At least sometimes anyway."

"I've improved a lot since then." I admit, thinking about how much I've grown. I don't usually like to look back on those years of my life. But sometimes they're all I can think about. Comparing the me of today to the me of childhood.

"And I am so, so proud of you." She smiles, prompting me to pull my head from where it's nestled. I kiss her softly, briefly.

Feeling bolstered, I cast another glance at the paper. "Well, if things go bad we can always leave, right?"

"Always." Nat smiles softly, too engrossed in nuzzling her nose along my neck. She presses small kisses into the sensitive skin.

"Alright." I chuckle, pushing her face away playfully and nudging her along. "To the couch with you. Tea's done."

She saunters off with a playful smirk, settling in as I grab the cups. I don't normally go for tea unless I'm sick, but it's a cold day and being cozy with her inside is a special little occasion.

"What is high school like?" She asks as I hand her her mug, steam wafting through the air. "I can't say I'm familiar with the experience."

"Tell me about your schooling first then," I say as I settle in beside her. Our knees touch, but I want to look at her while she's talking. I rest my elbow on the back of the couch and blow on my tea. "So I can make a helpful comparison."

"Well, I had private schooling for the most part." Nat says, bashfully reaching up to rub the back of her neck. "I know how it sounds. My family was fairly well off, so I had a somewhat expansive if upper class education. Literature, mathematics, science, etiquette. Back then most people believed intelligence was inherited and fixed. I spent a lot of time doing schoolwork. But I thrived in it."

I hum, taking a small sip of tea. "Well, we don't think about intelligence that way anymore, so thank goodness for that." I chuckle, and Nat smiles around the rim of her mug.

"But most kids get a similar curriculum. Math, science, social, English or other languages. A whole ton of electives too. Trades and arts. I think holistic education has been getting big, and really for the better. Not all schools are equal, of course, but in general they all cover the same things."

"What was your favorite subject?" She asks, brown eyes sparkling with interest. Her intellect and conversation draw me in. It makes me so happy to have this connection with her- something more intimate than just the physical, at least to me.

I smile, glancing sidelong at her. "Woodshop, in high school, but overall English Language Arts. Reading and writing, visual arts." My smile curls into a knowing smirk. "I'm going to guess the same for you. Little Nat with her nose glued in a book."

Nat blushes. "You know me well. I used to sneak out of bed at night to go read in my father's library. He couldn't figure out how we ran out of lamp oil so fast until the night I finally got caught." She brushes her hair back, chuckling softly. "He wasn't that mad, but I still got grounded for weeks."

"You sound precious." I say, my heart warm with pride in her.

"Did you ever get in trouble as a kid?" She asks, sipping her tea.

I look down at my mug, reveling in the warms between my hands. "No, but half of that's because I was a little goody two shoes and half of that is that Rebecca...Mom, wasn't around to discipline me a lot of the time."

Nat quiets, her hand resting gently on my leg. I put my mug down on the coffee table and snuggle in close to her.

"I just keep stepping into the heavy topics today, don't I?" She mutters, wrapping an arm around me. I hum as nonchalantly as possible, too lost in reveling the feeling of being so close to her.

"It's not your fault I had the childhood I did. These topics are safe most of the time, it's just...both of them are big in my life right now, and it's dragging my old feelings up. Good and bad." I reassure her, one hand going to rub her thigh.

She puts her mug down on the end table. "How about we don't talk about anything for a little bit?" She asks.

I glance up at her, our faces inches apart. "What do you propose we do?" I purr.

"I've got a few ideas." She says before kissing me so softly my brain melts. It's not long before I've shifted into her lap and she pushes me down into the couch.

By the time we emerge from our small bubble of bliss, the tea's gone cold.


End file.
